


Relax, I Just Wanna Take a Look Under the Hood

by MajoMagica



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, M/M, Robots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-14 12:44:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8014477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MajoMagica/pseuds/MajoMagica
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mizael is a house robot whose flees his birth country pursuing freedom.  He meets Alit, a former factory bot, and they struggle for survival together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Relax, I Just Wanna Take a Look Under the Hood

Mizael stared at the ring, trying not to make it too obvious that he was intrigued.

"Isn't he cute when he wants something?"

"Sure he is, grandpa."

Mizael ignored them, he was used to his owner's constant chatter and today one of the Grandchildren was along with them. He still held his owner's human hand, careful not to get the soft flesh caught in his joints, while they walked around the boardwalk. Mizael didn't come equipped with a sense of smell, even if he had what looked like a nose, but he could tell that it probably smelled like the ocean out here.

His owner handed the ring to the robot behind the register, who rung it up and handed it back. The sales robot's blank black eyes gave Mizael the creeps, no matter how many times he saw ones like this one in public. Mizael was a robot of a different class, meant to be as close to a human being as modern technology made possible.

"Here, you put this on, Miza." his owner gave the ring to him. Mizael smiled graciously at him on reflex.

"Thank you, laoye," Mizael said and put the ring on his finger. He admired how the stone shone on his fine metallic fingers.

He noticed the disturbed look on the face of the Grandchild and turned to smile at him. "It fits perfectly."

The grandchild looked away.  
\--  
Mizael waited by the front door, bored. He had been left alone all day, which would have been peaceful usually, but he had read all of the new books his master had gotten for him, and was bored. Besides, his master was always more leniant with the rewards when he greeted him at the door.

He heard the key turn in the lock and perked up immediately.

"I'm home, Miza. And I have a present for you!"

Presents were a frequent thing in Mizael's home, but he still felt eager anyway.

Mizael's master smiled. "Aren't you excited?"

Mizael's master dumped a big stack of books on the living room table. Mizael picked one up and examined it. It was a book on astronomy, they all were. Mizael felt warm. His master always knew what he wanted.

"Thank you, laoye."

"Anything for you, Miza."  
\--  
New Year's was in two days.

New Year's was Mizael's least favorite time of the year because it was when the Grandchildren came. He cared about his master, but he couldn't stand the Grandchildren, who would grope, and tell him to do chores, and lock him in closets.

"It's just until New Year's is over," laoye had said.

Mizael nodded. This was fine. He didn't mind staying in his bedroom, honest.

He listened to the sound of merrymaking downstairs. The Grandchildren's children were here, running around and playing with toys in Mizael's house. He could hear his laoye laugh. This was fine, he was happy when his master was happy.

If Mizael had lungs, he would have coughed. His master had moved old boxes of things into Mizael's room for storage for the holidays so there was room for the Grandchildren to stay in the guest bedrooms. Mizael thought there was plenty of space and they could just suck it up and sleep with the boxes in their rooms.

Mizael pressed an ear against the door.

"I don't know why you keep that thing," said one of the Grandchildren. Mizael sighed. This again. It sounded like this one was drunk, anyway.

"What, Miza?"

"Yeah, it sucks up money like a straw with expensive gifts like crazy. I dunno why you give the toaster so much stuff," he laughed like that joke was hilarious and not one Mizael had heard before. Mizael ignored his best instinct to kick the bedroom door down and throttle the Grandchild.

His master laughed. "You'll understand when you get older, child. It's good to have something to dote on."   
\--  
Mizael knocked on the bedroom door. "Laoye?"

There was no reply. Mizael knocked again and then opened the door. His master was in bed. Odd, he didn't ever sleep in this late.

He walked in and shook his master. "Laoye..." Cold. It hit Mizael like a sack of bricks. His master was dead, gone in his sleep.

Mizael backed up against the wall and half-sat half-fell on the ground. What was he going to do now? At least it was peaceful for his master, but...

The Grandchildren couldn't be trusted with Mizael. They would sell him for scrap or worse. Despite his master's best efforts, Mizael had heard about what would happen to second hand robots that were beautiful by human standards and he didn't trust them to find him a trustworthy owner.

Like his body was moving on it's own, he found a suitcase and begun packing his things. A spare battery, clothes, a book or two. Mizael knew he couldn't stay here, but he didn't know off the top of his head where he could go either.

Japan, his mind supplied. He had seen a TV program about robots going to Japan when they run away because China and Japan didn't have a robotic extradition deal. If he could make it over the border, he would be fine. If Mizael didn't say anything, nobody would find his master for weeks or maybe even a month or two.

Mizael felt a twinge of guilt at letting his master rot, but he liked to think his master would prefer him being free with his body rotting to Mizael being sold for his body and a nice early funeral.

He put on gloves and a turtleneck to hide the visible mechanical joints in his body and pulled his hair into a ponytail. If he was going to do this, he would have to feign humanity at least until after he got off the ferry to Japan.

What city would he go to? Mizael didn't know, he thought he would come up with an answer at the ferry station.

Mizael zipped up his suitcase and walked out the front door with it. His steps were fast and nervous. He hoped he wasn't too obvious looking.  
\--  
At the ferry station, Mizael perused the ticket board. He had enough money for most of the west of Japan, even though he was unfamilliar with the cities. He closed his eyes and drew his finger back and forth across the board. When he opened his eyes, his finger was on Heartland City.

Heartland it was, then. And it was one of the cheaper fares, sweetening the deal. Once he got there, Mizael would need a hotel room to hide in and to keep from being vulnerable at night.

Mizael's mind swirled with calculations as he walked onto the boat, suitcase in hand. So far, he had managed to avoid any undue attention because it was February and quite cold outside. He hoped that he would have some sort of better plan by the time summer came around and it wasn't so easy to get away by just covering up his joints.

Mizael took a seat on the boat where he could see the ocean. He hadn't been back to that boardwalk since then, he thought. He hoped that he would be able to return to China one day.   
\--  
When the boat arrived, Mizael scurried off as quickly as he could. The city was almost as big as the one he had lived in in China, but the atmosphere was completely different. For a city, it was bizarrely quiet and clean. Almost robotic.

He walked down backstreets, much less clean but less crowded. In a way, it felt safer than the main road. He had exchanged his yuan for yen on the boat, and now he only had to find a love hotel or motel that wouldn't ask him any questions.

Mizael bumped into the back of a young man. "Watch where you're going," Mizael snapped irritably, and then stopped when he got a look at the man. He was missing an eye and wires hung out from the socket. He wore gloves and a thick scarf, not unlike Mizael himself.

There was immediately a mutual understanding between the two of them.

"I won't tell if you won't," said the man.

Mizael tsked. "What are you running from?"

The man looked both ways before answering. "My name is Alit. I came from a bot fighting ring."

Bad luck, the bot fighting rings were notorious for chewing bots up and spitting them out once they weren't in fighting shape anymore. "I'm Mizael. I came from China." he paused. Despite his better instincts, he continued, "You can pretend to be mine. Nobody is going to take you for a human like this."

Alit looked like he wanted to object, but decided against it. "Okay, but only for a little while. I have my own stuff to do, you know?"

"I'm looking for a hotel room. You can hide out there for now."

Alit nodded and fell in a step behind Mizael. "Thanks, you said your name was Mizael?" Mizael hummed acknowledgement.  
\--  
Once Mizael found them a hotel, Alit immediately sat down to plug himself in.

Mizael wondered if he should do the same.


End file.
